The Upper Hand
by sarahmich
Summary: Derek Hale thinks he has this whole "relationship" figured out, that he's going to keep it purely physical, and ignore the growing feelings he has for Stiles. Stiles, however, has other plans. In this shaky relationship, who really has the upper hand?
1. Nurse Stiles?

_**Note: **__Please note that this story was written prior to the airing of "Co Captain" and there for has no standing in the show, and will not have any sort of connection with actual events in the show beyond this point._

Stiles looked over at Derek's limp form in the passenger seat of his Jeep and a lump formed in his throat. There was blood running down his face and his eyes looked heavy, as if he were hovering on the edge of consciousness. A slight groan escaped the wolf's lips and Stiles had to fix his eyes back on the road. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and every shadow the trees formed on the pavement made Stiles' heart race that much faster. He couldn't make sense of any of this, but what was plaguing him the most was the feeling he had when he first saw Derek after the fight, it was as if his stomach had dropped and his heart swelled into a boulder, and the worst part was that the he had felt it once before, the night at the school when he thought Derek had died. The feeling of loss was still overwhelming, even though Stiles had long ago remembered that Derek would heal, but the younger teen was still terrified by his emotions, why was he feeling this way for Derek?

Stiles was jerked out of his worries when they pulled up to his house and he noticed the cop car sitting in his drive way. "Shit."

Derek tilted his head towards the younger boy's sound and tried to speak, but all that came out was "Wh" before Stiles' head snapped over to look at him, eyes about as wide as they could be.

"No, no. It's okay. There are no lights on so he's asleep. I'll just help you get upstairs, and we'll figure it out from there…"

Stiles unlocked Derek's arm from around his neck and set him down onto his bed, the wolf's eyes barely fluttered and then settled shut. Stiles stood over Derek's sleeping form for a moment and gasped when he realized that all of the older teen's wounds were slowly sealing shut and disappearing completely underneath all of the caked blood. He had known that werewolves can heal miraculously fast but he had never witnessed it before, and it was _awesome._ Stiles shuffled over to the end of the bed and pulled off Derek's shoes, he stood there for a moment and contemplated if he should..._No, man. What are you thinking? You can't just undress him, just because he's unconscious doesn't mean he's not still Derek Hale, he'll rip you to shreds. _Stiles shook his head and settled for throwing an extra blanket over the top of Derek's body. The teen's eyelids were heavy and he could tell that if he didn't get some sleep soon he would pass out on the floor, so he tip-toed down the steps to the couch where he fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Stiles woke to the sound of his dad's car starting and rolling out of the driveway, he had barely hung on the edge of consciousness for a minute when he bolted upright with the memories of the night before. The teen clumsily shot off the couch and into the kitchen where he filled a bowl with warm water from the tap and grabbed a hand towel. Stiles crept up the steps and into his room where he found Derek Hale still very much asleep in Stiles' bed, ignoring the stutter that just came from his heart Stiles set the bowl on his night stand and sat on the edge of the bed. The smaller boy dipped the edge of the towel into the water and then set to work on removing the matted blood on the wolf's face.

Derek woke to a warm dampness on his face, opened his eyes a fraction and was shocked at what he saw. The young teenager, Stiles, was leaning over him tending to his face with a wet cloth. His lip twitched up in amusement and stiles noticed, the small teen retracted his hand and, for once, Stiles could barely speak. "Oh."

"You know they're already healed." Derek almost smirked as he said it, but was so thrown by the situation that his voice came out bland and dry from sleep.

Stiles lowered his head so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with Derek "Yeah, but, still." He paused, "I guess I'll just go…" but as Stiles reached over to put the towel back in the water Derek's hand reached up and guided the younger's back to his own face, and finally Stiles looked up at Derek and his breath escaped him. The older teen's dark eyes were surprisingly soft, and for the first time that Stiles had ever seen, flooding with emotion, the most prominent of which was gratitude.

"You can keep going, I don't mind." The larger teen seemed surprised that he had said this, but he was even more surprised that he had meant it. He felt calm here with Stiles, almost at peace. Even though he was clumsy and talked a LOT, there was something about him that Derek found he liked. He could hear Stiles' heart thumping in his chest from his nerves, "You know you can calm down. I'm not planning on attacking you."

"I don't think I can." Stiles muttered as he used the towel to push Derek's hair off of his forehead, attentively ran the towel through the wolf's eyebrows and over his eyelids as smoothly as he possibly could.

Derek's breath hitched at the feel of the towel when a realization came over him. Suddenly Derek knew why he felt at home with Stiles, and why Stiles was being so caring towards him. At that moment the smaller teen leaned forward to dip the towel in the water and Derek leaned up and very gently pressed his lips to Stiles'. Then Stiles' heart stopped for a few beats and Derek immediately pulled away, the younger teen's gaze was far away but Derek was intent on catching his attention, when Stiles' finally found their way to Derek's they seemed to burn with something that the wolf couldn't quite pin-point, persistence or confidence maybe. Then all at once the towel dropped into the bowl, Stiles' hands found their way to Derek's neck, and he had plastered their lips together.

Something clicked inside of Stiles when their lips met, and a strong sense of relief was settling over him. He had never felt this way about someone and it was extremely freeing to realize it, and even more amazing that Derek seemed to feel the same. Stiles' heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest and when the older teen reached up his hands to grab hold of his wrists Stiles felt sparks at their touch. The way their lips moved together felt so right to the younger teen. Everything about this kiss felt perfect to him, the way Derek's lips felt surprisingly soft, how he had immediately taken charge of the kiss even though he had not initiated it, and now when the wolf's tongue found its way to Stiles' it started up the perfect rhythm. The teenagers were pressed so tightly together that the younger one was practically lying on top of the other. Stiles thought he could go on kissing Derek forever but he quickly realized that he was running out of breath. He very gently pulled out of the kiss from the older teen and sat up a little straighter. They both sat there panting for a few moments before they finally made eye contact. Derek's dark eyes were blazing with poorly held back lust and passion, while Stiles' light brown eyes were holding back so much more: confusion, joy, compassion, lust, curiosity, and then a single emotion came over him and quickly dispelled all the others, mischief. Stiles leaned over to pick the towel back out of the bowl. "If you really want me to clean all the blood off, you're going to have to take off your shirt."


	2. A Shirt and a Problem

Derek's eyes slid into slits and his mouth pressed into a hard line. Did Stiles really think that he had the upper hand here? In a movement so fast Stiles barely knew what was going on, Derek had switched their positions so that the younger teen was lying down beneath him. The wolf took the time to admire his abilities as he watched Stiles' face flicker between being afraid and impressed. Derek smirked at the smaller boy beneath him as he sat up and maneuvered his legs so that he was straddling Stiles' chest. "And what would make you think that I want you to do that?"

Stiles looked taken aback, "well, you know, there was the…" but Stiles' voice was cut off by a large hand and a scolding look from the wolf. The only problem was that the younger teen's interior voice was still rambling on. _Just when you think you have this guy acting like a normal human being, he goes all hard and wolfy again, and what about me, am I …gay? I mean I've never, but that felt so right, and the way he's on top of me, oh my god, he's on top of me!_

"Stiles." Derek was staring down at him with a knowing look "Head in the game Stilinski, you're going to need all your focus for this." The older teen watched as Stiles' face froze in shock. "And now that I have your attention, I'm going to keep it." There was no hint of questioning whether or not he could follow through in Derek's voice, and he was as confident as he sounded. He knew he could keep the smaller boys scattered brain exactly where he wanted to with one action, and with that Derek took Stiles' wrists and slid them up above the younger teen's head. Derek pressed his body flat against Stiles' chest and kissed him again. This time the kiss was harder and more passionate, the wolf had full control over where this kiss was going to go, so he wasn't surprised at all when Stiles' lips parted the instant that his tongue found its way to them. Derek let his tongue take up a strong rhythm, exploring every part of Stiles' mouth. Stiles was kissing Derek back as forcefully as he could, although he was no challenge for dominance the older teen was impressed at how well he kept up. Just when Derek knew he had the smaller teen exactly where he wanted, he began to pull away from the kiss, taking a small nip at Stiles' lower lip before sitting back up.

"Now, I want _you _to take my shirt off." Derek slid his body down so that he was straddling Stiles' waist, gliding his fingers down the younger teen's chest as he did so.

Stiles lay there, stunned and unable to move. Just a little while ago he had requested Derek take the shirt off himself; so why now, when it was his responsibility, was it so hard? Stiles hands were shaking a tiny bit when he reached them up to Derek's hips. When the younger teen's fingertips grazed the first bit of Derek's skin he could have sworn they had burst in to flames. Stiles took a deep breath before forcing his fingers to push the shirt up the wolf's smooth skin, only breaking eye contact when the shirt went over Derek's eyes, and then the shirt hit the floor.

"And now, yours. Take it off." Stiles' eyes narrowed a little at how unfair it was, but did as he was told; leaning up a little to slide his own shirt over his head, and toss it to the floor. The older teen pressed his fingertips into Stiles' shoulders until he was laying flat against the bed again; this time Derek was pressed against him. A small groan of pleasure and ecstasy escaped the younger teen's lips as he felt Derek's bulge press into his own. A sharp look from Derek made Stiles bite down on his lip. "No sounds, no movement. I want you completely still for this."

Before Stiles could even react, Derek was sliding himself down the smaller teen's body, trailing his chest with his tongue and the tips of his teeth, leaving a light read line in his tracks. The wolf stopped when he reached Stiles' trail, where he left one kiss at the top, and then moved to the younger's jeans. Derek carefully undid the latch to Stiles' belt, and in a movement faster than Stiles' eyes could follow, he had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped. The smaller boy's tongue snaked out and traced the edge of his upper lip, eyes glued to Derek's face, and how close it was to his completely erect form. Stiles gulped back a moan as the wolf began to slowly pull his jeans off of his legs.

When Stiles' jeans were out of the way, Derek looked back up; claiming eye contact once again, as he slid his way back up to the smaller teen's hips. The older teen moved his head over to Stile's right hip, leaning into the indentation caused by his hip bone, murmuring against Stiles' skin, "Pay attention, I'm only doing this once." And then Derek's tongue was against the younger's skin, barely touching the surface. All of the hair on Stiles' body was standing on end, and he was biting so hard on his lip that he could taste a bit of metallic in his mouth. Derek could hear Stiles' heart pounding, could taste the lust seeping out of his skin, and could feel the hormones wafting from him. Fueled by both of their passion entangling, the wolf was barely wrangling in his stronger nature, as he kept his tongue barely grazing along Stiles' indentation, all the way up to the edge of his hip. Derek let his tongue swirl around the edge of the smaller teen's hip before pressing his lips on the spot and softly sucking, marking him as his own. Keeping their eyes locked the older teen began to make his way back down Stiles' hip bone, this time leaving lingering kisses the whole way.

Derek could tell that Stiles was on the verge of bursting any second, but he wasn't done yet. He shook his head once, to convey that he was not yet ready for the younger teen to participate, but just as Derek was getting ready to repeat the action on Stiles' left hip, his phone went off. Just like that, the wolf's head snapped up and pulled the phone out of his pocket.

"Ignore it." Stiles barely managed to gasp it out.

But Derek couldn't. He knew who it would be, and he knew that he would have to leave. The wolf pressed the 'answer' button on his phone and held it to his ear, "Yes?" The voice of his uncle came through the phone, a voice that until the night before, he hadn't heard in years. The order came and without speaking another word Derek hung up the phone and began to stand. Stiles' hand reached up to grasp the older teen's wrist.

"You're leaving me like this?" Stiles gave a very pointed look towards his crotch. "You're kidding, right?" But Stiles knew the answer already, and it was yes. So the smaller teen reached down to the floor by his bed and picked up Derek's shirt; he slid the shirt over his head and let it settle over his body. Stiles' stood up in front of Derek and wrapped his hands around his neck, pulling his face down to his. In one swift move Stiles gave the wolf one very intense kiss and whispered against his lips "I'm keeping this" before flopping back onto his bed.

Rather than argue, because Derek knew he needed to leave right away, he simply rolled his eyes at the very cocky looking Stiles lounging on the bed. "We'll finish this later, and I mean _all _of this."

Stiles let out one loud laugh. "Looking forward to it Derek." And the wolf was out the door.


	3. More Power, Less Control

_Note: Sorry for such a long wait between updates! Enjoy._

Derek climbed through the opened, second story window of the the Stilinski house. Swiftly and quietly landing inside the room, "You know. I'm not used to doing this when someone is actually in the room..."

Stiles, who had been facing away from the window, at his computer, jumped about three feet into the air. "Shit!" Stiles' swiveled around in his chair to face the leather-clad Derek Hale standing in the middle of his bedroom, a frustrated look to his eyes. "Derek, God. What the hell? Where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you in days! Not since, well. And then all that stuff at your house last night! Are you okay? What's going on?" The younger teen's mind was running so fast, and the longer Derek just stood there and stared at him, the more worked up he got. "God. Are you going to answer me?" He demanded.

Derek just rolled his eyes and took a step towards the smaller teen, "I've been locked up underneath my house. I remember exactly the last time we saw each other, in fact, I believe you have something of mine.." Derek closed the distance between them, tugging on the white cotton shirt Stiles was wearing to emphasize his words. "I'm okay, I'm the new Alpha. Did I forget anything?"

Before Stiles could form one of the many other questions swarming through his brain, the werewolves lips had found his. Derek's lips felt hot and urgent against Stiles', his hands reached up to the younger's neck as pressed their bodies tightly together. The kisses were not the same ones that Stiles remembered from a few days ago, these were hard and frustrated. The smaller teen's hands snaked their way up to Derek's chest, almost as if to hold him off, as he tried to separate their lips. When their lips barely parted Stiles tried his best to get a word in, "Derek, stop." He had successfully put a couple more inches between him and the wolf. "What is going on? Not that I'm not enjoying this, because, I am. But this doesn't feel ...right."

"Feels pretty right to me." Derek barely growled out at Stiles as he reached out and wrapped his large hands around the younger teen's waist and began to pull him towards him, and the bed. Stiles rolled his eyes at the older teen, but resigned, knowing that he wanted this just as bad. Derek smirked at Stiles, knowing he had won, that he was going to get what he wanted. "Shirt. Lose it."

Stiles immediately complied, sliding Derek's white shirt off of his own body and letting it hit the floor. The younger teen stepped forward and slid past the wolf, settling onto his bed. He reached up and grabbed onto Derek's arms, pulling him down on top of him. The wolf had never looked so cocky in his life, but Stiles could see something in the other's eyes that was barely being contained. Something like lust mixed with rage, and that's what had Stiles so on edge. Derek swung his leg over Stiles' waist so that he was straddling the younger teen. The wolf leaned in very close to Stiles' face and let his fingers slide, very softly, down the smaller's cheeks. He smiled at the response he got, a large spike of the heart rate from Stiles. "That's my boy." He mumbled before pressing his lips, once again, to the smaller teen's.

This time, Derek was trying desperately to control himself. He didn't want to hurt Stiles, but he found that he no longer had the self-control that he did when he was a beta. The kiss continued to progress, Stiles had his hands around Derek's neck, pulling him in closer. The wolf responded, grateful, that the younger teen's hormones were kicking in and that he would no longer be asking questions. Derek let his tongue slide into Stiles' mouth and pick up a strong rhythm, wanting to taste every part of him that he could. When the smaller teen let out a small moan of ecstasy escape his lips and into the older teens, Derek felt a familiar shiver crawl down his spine and he immediately tensed up.

Stiles could immediately sense that something was wrong, he pulled their mouths apart and rested his forehead against Derek's. "what..what's wrong?" The younger teen slid his eyes up to meet the wolf's, and his heart sped up rapidly. Derek's eyes were glowing bright red. "Oh." he let out in a barely audible whisper. The smaller teen slid his hand from Derek's neck up to his eyes, and slid the lids closed. "Just breathe. Just listen to my heart. I didn't know..."

Derek lay there, completely still, on top of Stiles. Surprisingly doing just as the younger had requested, listening the beat of his heart. He inhaled heavily, and held it, before exhaling. The wolf opened his eyes against Stiles' hand and reached up remove it, while maneuvering himself so that he lay to the side of the smaller teen. "I didn't know either. I thought... We're going to get this right one day." He leaned up and slid off his own shirt before laying back down beside Stiles.

Stiles leaned over so that his head rested on Derek's shoulder. "You can barely control yourself now that your an alpha, and the only thing you think about, is trying to get in my pants. Well damn." The younger teen rested his arm on top of the older's chest and lightly traced a pattern with his finger.

"Don't get so cocky, I just haven't gotten any in a long time." Derek said with a smirk, wrapping his own arm around the Stiles' shoulder blades. He wasn't going to let Stiles' see how he really felt. That he was way over his head with this whole alpha business, that this younger boy felt so much like a home to Derek, and that he may have to give that up if he couldn't regain control. His head was pounding, and yet, he was at peace. Stiles' finger trailing around the contours of his chest felt like it was leaving a burning trail behind it.

"Yeah, right. You're totally into me. You can admit it you know, I'm kind of into you too." But Stiles had, had a really long night. After everything at the Hale house, and the visit to the hospital he was dead tired. The smaller teen drifted off to sleep before even hearing the wolf's response


	4. I Should Go

When Stiles woke the next morning, and reached his arm out across his bed, he was searching for the familiar form that had been there when he had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, he found nothing. Dismayed, Stiles sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes and looking around. When his eyes locked onto his window he noticed that Derek's plain white shirt was hanging there in the sill. The wolf had left the window open on his way out so there was a Winter's breeze blowing into his room. As he got up to shut the window, stiles noticed that there was a note being held down by a rock on top of the shirt. The teen picked up the paper, tossing the rock back out of the window, and read the scratchy scroll of Derek Hale. "You looked hot in this. I'll be back at 10." Sighing, Stiles threw the shirt on to his bed, slammed the window shut, and went to get ready for school.

* * *

><p>That night Stiles lay on his back, his hands tucked underneath his head, waiting. He had already opened the window, and could feel the crisp, Winter air filling his room. The teen didn't even flinch when he heard light footsteps treading on his floor, coming towards him. He didn't look up either. Derek leaned over Stiles and landed a kiss on his lips, tugging at the teen's lower lip with his teeth as he pulled away. "Hey."<p>

Stiles set his hands on to Derek's chest, not even bothering to push, it wouldn't do any good and Derek would know his intentions. Immediately picking up on the younger teen's wishes, Derek slid off of Stiles to sit beside him on the bed. The smaller teen sat up next to the wolf, steeling himself for the conversation that he wasn't sure he was ready to have. Stiles took in a deep breath, letting it out when he began to speak, "You could have stayed here, you know." Although his eyes were clamped shut Stiles could feel the bed shake as Derek let out a silent laugh.

"Why would I stay?" Derek kept his voice flat and uncaring, his body rigid. He could feel the heat emanating from Stiles' skin, smell the light scent of the soap that the younger teen used, but the worst part was Derek could hear how fast Stiles' nervous heart was pounding. The wolf could feel his resolve wavering, he prayed the younger didn't put up to much of a fight, because he wasn't sure that he could stay strong for long, but Derek sat there completely still, keeping all his emotions tucked neatly inside.

Stiles was staring at Derek, mouth hanging open in disbelief. His eyes narrowed into slits, "You're kidding me right? Do you really expect me to believe that none of this has meant anything to you? Because really, I don't. It's such bullshit that you don't care, you and I both know that you do." The wolf was taken aback by the lashing that Stiles had begun to give out.

"I told you last night that I'm just here to get some, but seeing as it doesn't look like that's going to happen for awhile, I'll be leaving. I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't be back." Derek felt his gut squeeze at the lies he was spouting, he didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay in this spot forever. He wanted to kiss Stiles' until they both passed out, he wanted to feel every part of the smaller teen's body, he wanted to hold him all night, and wake up with him in his arms. Although he wanted all of these things, Derek would never show it. He would remain cold. The older teen got up to leave the room but stopped when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist.

Stiles stood, standing barely an inch away from the wolf's face, staring into his eyes. He was trying to remain as calm as he could, even though he knew that his heart beat would give him away. No matter how badly he wanted to be with Derek, he knew he was still frightened of him. The smaller teen gave none of this away in his face, which impressed Derek, he kept his eyes strong and his mouth in a hard line as he muttered the word "bullshit." Stiles could see that the wolf's eyes had heat behind them, and for a split second he could have sworn he saw flashes of red in them. The smaller teen's resolve wavered at the sight and he took a step back. "You know this means something and you think that acting like this makes you strong, but it doesn't. It makes you weak."

At that there was a definite flash of red in Derek's eyes. "I am not weak Stilinski. You of all people should know that." They were standing so close to each other now, Derek was standing over the smaller teen, staring down in to his light brown eyes, eyes that were filled with so many different emotions, but there was one winning over all of the others, one that Derek knew all too well, pain. "I...I should go."

"No. You shouldn't." Even though Stiles meant the words, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop the wolf if he really wanted to leave, so he released his hold on his wrist. The smaller teen picked up the cotton shirt that was still laying on his bed and pressed it up against Derek's chest. "I just. I don't get it Derek. If this was just about sex, if you really didn't give a shit about me you wouldn't have come back at all, you would have just left in the middle of the night and left everything at that. You were really upset about last night, I know you were, and I think you and I both know why... You know what? Fine. Just leave." Stiles eyes began to swim and he had to look down so that Derek wouldn't see.

In those words Derek lost everything. His composure was gone and it took everything it had in him to not break down. He was grateful that Stiles had taken a moment to look away because he knew that his face would give him away, that he could no longer hide the way he was feeling on the inside. "Stiles..." The wolf was surprised at how soft his voice was, he reached his hand out to try and get a hold on the smaller teen's hip and pull him closer, but Stiles dodged out of the way of the hand and just shook his head.

Then Stiles remembered that he had promised himself that he would keep a level head for this, and he took in a large breath of air, preparing himself. He would let Derek leave, but he would not let him leave without an explanation, he owed him that. Stiles looked up into the taller teen's eyes and was slightly taken aback by how soft they appeared. Although startled by this, Stiles was not going to let it stop him from getting his answer. "Just tell me why." His voice was flat, and he didn't let anything signal this as a question, it was a demand.

The wolf's teeth clenched shut and his jaw squared off, how was he supposed to answer that, he couldn't lie, the teen seemed to see right through him. "You want an answer? Okay, here it is. It's you. This is all your fault! For some damn reason I care about you. Is that what you wanted to hear? But I can't control myself around you, I can't control anything around you. I can't be near you and be scared that I'm going to shift and rip you to pieces. I can't be close to you. I can't. I mean, you saw that last night, do you really want to have to worry about all of that?" The wolf meant for his voice to come out harsh and warning, but despite himself it came out shaky and weak. He stood near the window, his heart pounding so hard that Stiles could see his chest moving from where he stood, shocked.

When everything Derek had said sunk in, Stiles didn't need anymore answers. In fact, he didn't need any more words at all. Before he even thought about it, the younger teen was in Derek's arms and he was kissing him so forcefully that even he was surprised by it. Stiles wrapped his arms around the wolf's neck and pressed his body so close that Derek knew exactly what he was trying to achieve. In a move faster than Stiles was ready for, Derek had him lifted up, and his legs wrapped around his waist. The kiss was growing in heat, and for once the smaller teen had beaten Derek to trying to gain access to the inside of the other's mouth. Stiles wanted to take in this kiss with everything he had in him, and although Derek's strong tongue had already gained back in control Stiles had no problem keeping up the strong rhythm. They were both clinging to the other as tightly as they could, although the older teen made no moves for the bed, he would let Stiles lead this one, even though this was the best answer to his question that he could have hoped for.

When they were both light headed and dizzy from their kiss, Stiles pulled their lips apart, sucking a little bit on Derek's upper lip as they parted. he rested his forehead on the other's, and looked straight into his eyes. The smaller teen slid his hands up so that they rested lightly on each of Derek's cheeks, he spoke, breathlessly, "Yes. I do." Then Derek did something that Stiles had never seen before, he smiled. A real smile, his lips pulled up, his eyes lightened up, and a small laugh of pure joy and relief escaped his lips.


End file.
